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108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5312
To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of
1974 and related laws to strengthen the protection of native
biodiversity and ban clearcutting on Federal land, and to designate
certain Federal land as Ancient forests, roadless areas, watershed
protection areas, and special areas where logging and other intrusive
activities are prohibited.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 8, 2004
Ms. Eshoo (for herself, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Andrews, Ms. Baldwin, Ms.
Berkley, Mr. Berman, Mr. Bishop of New York, Ms. Corrine Brown of
Florida, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Cardin, Ms.
Carson of Indiana, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Clay, Mr. Clyburn, Mr.
Conyers, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Davis of Illinois,
Mrs. Davis of California, Mr. Delahunt, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Deutsch, Mr.
Emanuel, Mr. Engel, Mr. Evans, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Filner, Mr. Ford, Mr.
Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr.
Hastings of Florida, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Hoeffel, Mr. Holt, Mr. Honda, Mr.
Israel, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr.
Jefferson, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode
Island, Mr. Kleczka, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Lampson, Mr. Langevin, Mr.
Lantos, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms. Lee, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mrs.
Lowey, Mr. Lynch, Mrs. Maloney, Mr. Markey, Mrs. McCarthy of New York,
Ms. McCarthy of Missouri, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McDermott, Mr. McGovern,
Mr. Meehan, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Millender-
McDonald, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Moore, Mr. Moran of
Virginia, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Neal of Massachusetts, Ms.
Norton, Mr. Olver, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Payne, Mr. Rangel,
Mr. Rothman, Mr. Rush, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Mr.
Serrano, Mr. Shays, Mr. Sherman, Ms. Slaughter, Ms. Solis, Mr. Stark,
Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Towns, Ms.
Waters, Mr. Watt, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Weiner, Mr. Wexler, Ms. Woolsey, and
Mr. Wynn) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on
Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of
1974 and related laws to strengthen the protection of native
biodiversity and ban clearcutting on Federal land, and to designate
certain Federal land as Ancient forests, roadless areas, watershed
protection areas, and special areas where logging and other intrusive
activities are prohibited.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Act to Save
America's Forests''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings and purposes.
TITLE I--LAND MANAGEMENT
Sec. 101. Committee of scientists.
Sec. 102. Continuous forest inventory.
Sec. 103. Administration and management.
Sec. 104. Conforming amendments.
TITLE II--PROTECTION FOR ANCIENT FORESTS, ROADLESS AREAS, WATERSHED
PROTECTION AREAS, AND SPECIAL AREAS
Sec. 201. Findings.
Sec. 202. Definitions.
Sec. 203. Designation of special areas.
Sec. 204. Restrictions on management activities in Ancient forests,
roadless areas, watershed protection areas,
and special areas.
TITLE III--EFFECTIVE DATE
Sec. 301. Effective date.
Sec. 302. Effect on existing contracts.
Sec. 303. Wilderness act exclusion.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) Federal agencies that permit clearcutting and other
forms of even-age logging operations include the Forest
Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the
Bureau of Land Management;
(2) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging
operations cause substantial alterations in native biodiversity
by--
(A) emphasizing the production of a limited number
of commercial species, and often only a single species,
of trees on each site;
(B) manipulating the vegetation toward greater
relative density of the commercial species;
(C) suppressing competing species; and
(D) requiring the planting, on numerous sites, of a
commercial strain of the species that reduces the
relative diversity of other genetic strains of the
species that were traditionally located on the same
sites;
(3) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging
operations--
(A) frequently lead to the death of immobile
species and the very young of mobile species of
wildlife; and
(B) deplete the habitat of deep-forest species of
animals, including endangered species and threatened
species;
(4)(A) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging
operations--
(i) expose the soil to direct sunlight and the
impact of precipitation;
(ii) disrupt the soil surface;
(iii) compact organic layers; and
(iv) disrupt the run-off restraining capabilities
of roots and low-lying vegetation, resulting in soil
erosion, the leaching of nutrients, a reduction in the
biological content of soil, and the impoverishment of
soil; and
(B) all of the consequences described in subparagraph (A)
have a long-range deleterious effect on all land resources,
including timber production;
(5) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging
operations aggravate global climate change by--
(A) decreasing the capability of the soil to retain
carbon; and
(B) during the critical periods of felling and site
preparation, reducing the capacity of the biomass to
process and to store carbon, with a resultant loss of
stored carbon to the atmosphere;
(6) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging
operations render soil increasingly sensitive to acid deposits
by causing a decline of soil wood and coarse woody debris;
(7) a decline of solid wood and coarse woody debris reduces
the capacity of soil to retain water and nutrients, which in
turn increases soil heat and impairs soil's ability to maintain
protective carbon compounds on the soil surface;
(8) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging
operations result in--
(A) increased stream sedimentation and the silting
of stream bottoms;
(B) a decline in water quality;
(C) the impairment of life cycles and spawning
processes of aquatic life from benthic organisms to
large fish; and
(D) as a result of the effects described in
subparagraphs (A) through (C), a depletion of the sport
and commercial fisheries of the United States;
(9) clearcutting and other forms of even-age management of
Federal forests disrupt natural disturbance regimes that are
critical to ecosystem function;
(10) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging
operations increase harmful edge effects, including--
(A) blowdowns;
(B) invasions by weed species; and
(C) heavier losses to predators and competitors;
(11) by reducing the number of deep, canopied, variegated,
permanent forests, clearcutting and other forms of even-age
logging operations--
(A) limit areas where the public can satisfy an
expanding need for recreation; and
(B) decrease the recreational value of land;
(12) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging
operations replace forests described in paragraph (11) with a
surplus of clearings that grow into relatively impenetrable
thickets of saplings, and then into monoculture tree
plantations;
(13) because of the harmful and, in many cases,
irreversible, damage to forest species and forest ecosystems
caused by logging of Ancient and roadless forests,
clearcutting, and other forms of even-age management, it is
important that these practices be halted based on the
precautionary principle;
(14) human beings depend on native biological resources,
including plants, animals, and micro-organisms--
(A) for food, medicine, shelter, and other
important products; and
(B) as a source of intellectual and scientific
knowledge, recreation, and aesthetic pleasure;
(15) alteration of native biodiversity has serious
consequences for human welfare, as the United States
irretrievably loses resources for research and agricultural,
medicinal, and industrial development;
(16) alteration of biodiversity in Federal forests
adversely affects the functions of ecosystems and critical
ecosystem processes that--
(A) moderate climate;
(B) govern nutrient cycles and soil conservation
and production;
(C) control pests and diseases; and
(D) degrade wastes and pollutants;
(17)(A) clearcutting and other forms of even-age management
operations have significant deleterious effects on native
biodiversity, by reducing habitat and food for cavity-nesting
birds and insectivores such as the 3-toed woodpecker and hairy
woodpecker and for neotropical migratory bird species; and
(B) the reduction in habitat and food supply could disrupt
the lines of dependency among species and their food resources
and thereby jeopardize critical ecosystem function, including
limiting outbreaks of destructive insect populations; for
example--
(i) the 3-toed woodpecker requires clumped snags in
spruce-fir forests, and 99 percent of its winter diet
is composed of insects, primarily spruce beetles; and
(ii) a 3-toed woodpecker can consume as much as 26
percent of the brood of an endemic population of spruce
bark beetle and reduce brood survival of the population
by 70 to 79 percent;
(18) the harm of clearcutting and other forms of even-age
logging operations on the natural resources of the United
States and the quality of life of the people of the United
States is substantial, severe, and avoidable;
(19) by substituting selection management, as required by
this Act, for clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging
operations, the Federal agencies involved with those logging
operations would substantially reduce devastation to the
environment and improve the quality of life of the people of
the United States;
(20) selection management--
(A) retains natural forest structure and function;
(B) focuses on long-term rather than short-term
management;
(C) works with, rather than against, the checks and
balances inherent in natural processes; and
(D) permits the normal, natural processes in a
forest to allow the forest to go through the natural
stages of succession to develop a forest with old
growth ecological functions;
(21) by protecting native biodiversity, as required by this
Act, Federal agencies would maintain vital native ecosystems
and improve the quality of life of the people of the United
States;
(22) selection logging--
(A) is more job intensive, and therefore provides
more employment than clearcutting and other forms of
even-age logging operations to manage the same quantity
of timber production; and
(B) produces higher quality sawlogs than
clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging
operations; and
(23) the judicial remedies available to enforce Federal
forest laws are inadequate, and should be strengthened by
providing for injunctions, declaratory judgments, statutory
damages, and reasonable costs of suit.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to conserve native
biodiversity and protect all native ecosystems on all Federal land
against losses that result from--
(1) clearcutting and other forms of even-age logging
operations; and
(2) logging in Ancient forests, roadless areas, watershed
protection areas, and special areas.
TITLE I--LAND MANAGEMENT
SEC. 101. COMMITTEE OF SCIENTISTS.
Section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning
Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604) is amended by striking subsection (h) and
inserting the following:
``(h) Committee of Scientists.--
``(1) In general.--To carry out subsection (g), the
Secretary shall appoint a committee composed of scientists--
``(A) who are not officers or employees of the
Forest Service, of any other public entity, or of any
entity engaged in whole or in part in the production of
wood or wood products;
``(B) not more than one-third of whom have
contracted with or represented any entity described in
subparagraph (A) during the 5-year period ending on the
date of the proposed appointment to the committee; and
``(C) not more than one-third of whom are
foresters.
``(2) Qualifications of foresters.--A forester appointed to
the committee shall be an individual with--
``(A) extensive training in conservation biology;
and
``(B) field experience in selection management.
``(3) Duties.--The committee shall provide scientific and
technical advice and counsel on proposed guidelines and
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